The present invention relates to a granular material processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus which can be used in pulverizing granular materials, in mixing granular materials and liquids, and to evenly disperse such slurry substances as pigments and paints, etc.
In general, this type of granular material processing apparatus, such as, for example, pulverizing apparatus and mixing and dispersion apparatus are such that a plurality of pressers are arranged on a rotor within a cylindrical casing, the pressers press against the inner wall of the casing due to centrifugal force, material to be processed which comes between the pressers and the inner wall of the casing is trapped, and such processing as pulverization is performed. At this point, it is necessary that the material to be processed is uniformly moved to the entire inner wall of the casing, without becoming immobilized in one place within the casing.
The present applicants have proposed an apparatus wherein, so as to evenly move the material to be processed to the entire inner wall of the casing, the pressers comprise a columnar plurality of ring members consecutively positioned in close contact with each other (Japanese Unexamined Patent Bulletin 6-79192, and equivalent U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,996) whereby various granular material processing, such as fine pulverization of solid substances in a short time, can be performed efficiently and in a short period of time.
However, in cases where, for example, the material to be processed is dry pulverized, the movement of the material to be processed within the casing is extremely poor and the material to be processed has physical properties whereby it readily accumulates in one place within the casing. For this reason, by rotating the pressers at high speeds, while stirring the particulate matter, centrifugal force is applied, moving it in the peripheral direction, so as to control the movement of the material to be processed. However, in the cylindrical region formed in accordance with the revolution of the pressers, a shaft is extended in order to support both ends of the pressers, and if the speed of rotation is too great, centrifugal force increases and the swirl flow of the material to be processed within the casing is greatly disturbed. Consequently, particularly in cases of powders having low specific gravity or small processing quantities, the granular material becomes immobilized at the top, and there is a problem in so much as it is difficult to evenly apply pulverization energy in the form of the compressive force and shearing force of the pressers. This is also true in cases where small amounts of granular materials are wet processed.
Accordingly, with an apparatus wherein processing of granular materials is dependent on the rotation of the pressers alone, due to considerations of the swirl flow etc., it is not possible to perform various processing such as pulverization while optimally controlling the movement of various granular materials (even distribution).
The present invention is a novel idea intended to eliminate the problems, wherein the granular material, the movement of which within the casing is difficult to control, is moved to the entire inner wall of the casing without accumulating at one place within the casing, and such presser energy as compressive force and shearing force due to centrifugal force can be evenly applied, allowing for processing under good conditions. Thus, the movement of the granular material is controlled and, while the granular material is evenly distributed, presser energy such as compressive force and shearing force is applied to the granular material, providing an environment within the casing wherein various types of processing such as pulverization are optimized in terms of effectiveness.
A technical means employed by the present invention in order to solve the problems is an apparatus wherein a rotor coupled to a shaft is provided within a casing which forms a granular material processing chamber, a plurality of pressers are supported around the rotor at the edge thereof separated from each other by a predetermined gap, the pressers are caused to revolve in cooperation with the rotation of the rotor, and press against the inner wall of the casing to process a granular material, characterized in that, in the cylindrical region formed in accordance with the rotation of the pressers, an empty region is formed wherein there is no extension of the shaft etc., allowing for the formation of a center of swirl flow of the granular material within the cylindrical region.
Another technical means employed by the present invention is an apparatus wherein a casing which forms a granular material processing chamber and a rotor provided within the casing are each coupled to shafts and rotatable therewith, a plurality of pressers are supported around the rotor at the edge thereof separated from each other by a predetermined gap, the pressers are caused to revolve in cooperation with the rotation of the rotor, and press against the inner wall of the casing to process a granular material, characterized in that the rotation of the casing and the rotation of the rotor are rotationally controlled in the same direction at different speeds of rotation.
Another technical means employed by the invention is an apparatus wherein a casing which forms a granular material processing chamber and a rotor provided within the casing are each coupled to shafts and rotatable therewith, a plurality of pressers are supported around the rotor at the edge thereof separated from each other by a predetermined gap, the pressers are caused to revolve in cooperation with the rotation of the rotor, and press against the inner wall of the casing to process a granular material, characterized in that the pressers are supported in a cantilevered manner on the rotor so that the axis of rotation of the apparatus is horizontally oriented, and a horizontally oriented cylindrical region is formed in accordance with the rotation of the pressers.